Sunday, November 19, 2000
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Sunday, November 19, 2000 |
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Apathy will hurt us more than errors By MARY JANE HOLT When I was in the sixth grade I was required to take a music comprehension course. It was one of those "fill in the circle that best answers the question with a number-two pencil" tests. As I neared completion of my "test" I realized I was marking the answer sheet wrong. The questions were on one paper. The little circles I had to fill in were on another sheet of paper. I tried to ask for help. My teacher's response was "No talking during the test." I tried to "fix" the error of my ways. I could not. I had already marked the column where the answers to my last set of questions belonged. When the test was over, I told my teacher what I had done. Her response: "Don't worry, it's just a music comprehension test; it doesn't matter." She was wrong. It mattered then and it matters today. I made such an abominably low score that the rest of the class laughed. None could believe I could be so musically ignorant. Was my self-esteem worth a retake? Worth my teacher taking the time to stay after school and give me another chance? Apparently not. Today, all six of my siblings sing reasonably well. None are intimidated by the sound of their own voices. Three sisters play musical instruments. The talent extends to many cousins and aunts and uncles. Music is a strong suit in my family. With everybody but me. And I suppose I will never know if I ever really had a chance, because to this day the laughter of my sixth grade class rings in my ears as I hear the teacher call out the grades on the music comprehension test. A few weeks ago I heard the story of a little boy who was given routine tests on the first day of kindergarten. Immediately upon seeing the scores the teachers knew they must do something quickly to save this child. His tests were so low that there was discussion among school officials about prompt intervention on his behalf. Within two school days the child's teacher knew the test had failed this kid. Intervention was not necessary. The test results were wrong, but they are in place. The numbers are now part of this child's "permanent record." It happens. We are an imperfect people with many imperfect systems in place. We are a growing country, a very young nation. We are constantly learning about the error of our ways and every day we make mistakes. It is good that we seek to better understand where we have come from and where we are headed. Like no other country before us, we have guidelines to follow, rules to live by, laws to follow. And our people have the right and responsibility, when a rule or law is no longer right or appropriate, to change that rule or law. We cannot, however, and must not attempt such change in midstream. As we celebrate Veterans Day once again, yet another crisis is upon us. Veterans will play a major role in the outcome one more time. It is as it should be. Of course, many see the protesters in Palm Beach County who march in defiance of the "flawed ballot" only as "old people who should have studied the ballot better or demanded assistance at the polling centers." They wish they'd shut up and let the country go forward. What's done is done. We fail to remember that many of those "old people" are veterans. Their votes and the votes of so many military men and women currently representing America's interests in other lands and on all the seas may be the deciding factor in this year's presidential race. It is sad and disturbing that thousands of ballots have been thrown out because those who marked the ballot did so for two presidential candidates. They claim now to have been confused and some claim to have been refused assistance. I know how they feel. Their mistakes will follow them forever. And so it is in life. Can responsibility ever be clearly defined? Is there ever to be a system that can be clearly understood by all? Will there ever be a democracy where the rights of the people are protected to the fullest extent of the law? I don't know. I still believe, with all its imperfections, that America has the best thing going. But remember, we are young. These are still formative years. We are growing. In light of that fact, the one truly disturbing thing about the 2000 presidential election is that only one-half those eligible to vote in this country went to the polls. The dissention in Florida? We will work through it. We always do. The apathy across the land? It may be the undoing of America.
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